This memorandum is the final revisions to our previous memorandums on this issue dated August 18, and September 2, 2005. As discussed in those prior memorandums, House Bill 1547, 79th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, 2005, amends the plain language provisions of Section 341.502 of the Texas Finance Code to provide for the following Spanish language disclosures: “(a-1) If the terms of the agreement for a loan under [Chapter 342 or a Chapter 342 home equity loan] were negotiated in Spanish, a copy of a summary of those terms and other pertinent information shall be provided to the debtor in Spanish in a form identical to disclosures required for a closed-end transaction under 12 C.F.R. Section 226.18 [Regulation Z].” The new disclosure requirements of Section 341.502(a-1) are effective September 1, 2005. The Finance Commission of Texas has published in the November 4, 2005 issue of the Texas Register (Vol. 30 TexReg No. 44) the final rules and model forms for the Spanish language disclosures that implement the requirements of Section 341.502(a-1). The full text of the final rules and the model Spanish language disclosure form for a secondary mortgage loan [which is changed from the model form in the proposed rules] are printed below with the Finance Commission’s preamble explaining these final rules. Please note that although these final rules cover all Chapter 342 loans, subchapter G of Chapter 342 governs secondary mortgage loans. Our comments appear at the end of this memorandum.
